List of best-selling singles in the United Kingdom

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"Candle in the Wind 1997" / "Something About the Way You Look Tonight" by Elton John is the best-selling single in the UK. Elton John in Norway.jpg
"Candle in the Wind 1997" / "Something About the Way You Look Tonight" by Elton John is the best-selling single in the UK.

For the purposes of calculating sales, a single is currently defined by the Official Charts Company (OCC) as either a "single bundle" having no more than four tracks and not lasting longer than 25 minutes or one digital audio track not longer than 15 minutes with a minimum sale price of 40 pence. [1] The rules have changed many times as technology has developed, the most notable being the inclusion of digital downloads in 2004 and streaming in 2014.

Contents

The best-selling single in the UK is "Something About the Way You Look Tonight"/"Candle in the Wind 1997", a double A-side released by Elton John following the death of Diana, Princess of Wales. Since September 1997, the single has sold over 5.4 million copies in the UK. [2]

Sales of singles have been monitored and charted in the UK since 1952, when Percy Dickins of New Musical Express (NME) telephoned around 20 record stores and aggregated their best-selling singles into a hit parade. Dickins published this Top 12 chart in NME on 14 November 1952. [3] [4]

The highest-selling single by a solo female artist is "All I Want for Christmas Is You" by Mariah Carey. Released in October 1994, it has combined sales of over 4 million in the UK. [5]

The best-selling single not to top the UK Singles Chart is "Mr. Brightside" by The Killers, which reached number 10 in 2004. [6] When streaming is taken into account, "All of Me" by John Legend, which has over 2.1 million combined sales, is the highest-selling single not to have topped the charts. [5]

The highest-selling single (paid-for purchases) in the 21st century is "Happy" by Pharrell Williams, which has sold 1.93 million; [7] it overtook "Anything Is Possible" / "Evergreen" by Will Young in 2015. [8]

The most streamed song is "Shape of You" by Ed Sheeran with over 200 million streams (2 million equivalent sales) from 2017. Twenty other songs have been streamed over 100 million times, including two more by Ed Sheeran. [5]

Best-selling singles based on paid-for purchases

Until June 2014, only a paid download or a purchase of a physical single counted as a sale. Based on this definition, these are the 50 best-selling singles in the UK. Positions are current as of 8 November 2023. [9]

No.SingleArtistRecord label [a] Released [a] Chart
peak [a] 		Traditional sales [b]
1"Something About the Way You Look Tonight" / "Candle in the Wind 1997" Elton John Rocket September 199714,940,000 [9]
2"Do They Know It's Christmas?" Band Aid Mercury November 198413,830,000 [9]
3"Bohemian Rhapsody"
/ "These Are the Days of Our Lives"		 Queen EMI October 1975
November 1991		12,630,000 [9]
4"Mull of Kintyre" / "Girls' School" Wings Capitol November 197712,100,000 [9]
5"You're the One That I Want" John Travolta and Olivia Newton-John RSO May 197812,080,000 [9]
6"Relax" Frankie Goes to Hollywood ZTT January 198412,066,230
7"Rivers of Babylon" / "Brown Girl in the Ring" Boney M. Atlantic/Hansa April 197812,032,656
8"Last Christmas" / "Everything She Wants" Wham! Epic December 198411,931,000 [9]
9"Happy" Pharrell Williams Columbia November 201311,930,000 [7]
10"She Loves You" The Beatles Parlophone August 196311,930,000 [9]
11"Love Is All Around" Wet Wet Wet PolyGram May 199411,898,790
12"Mary's Boy Child – Oh My Lord"Boney M. Atlantic/Hansa November 197811,885,274
13"I Just Called to Say I Love You" Stevie Wonder Motown August 198411,874,225
14" (Everything I Do) I Do It for You " Bryan Adams A&M June 19911
15"Unchained Melody" / "White Cliffs of Dover" Robson & Jerome RCA May 199511,867,755
16"Barbie Girl" Aqua Universal October 199711,844,310
17"Believe" Cher WEA October 199811,826,573
18"I Want to Hold Your Hand"The Beatles Parlophone November 196311,810,829
19"Anything Is Possible" / "Evergreen" Will Young S February 200211,795,213
20"Imagine" John Lennon Apple October 197511,714,351
21"Eye of the Tiger" Survivor Scotti Brothers July 198211,650,293
22"Uptown Funk" Mark Ronson featuring Bruno Mars RCA December 201411,647,310
23"I'll Be Missing You" Puff Daddy and Faith Evans featuring 112 Bad Boy June 19971
24"Blurred Lines" Robin Thicke featuring T.I. and Pharrell Williams Interscope May 201311,667,165
25"Someone like You" Adele XL January 201111,644,597
26"Three Lions"
"3 Lions '98"		 Baddiel, Skinner and the Lightning Seeds Epic June 19961
27"I Will Always Love You" Whitney Houston Arista October 199211,642,360
28"Don't You Want Me" The Human League Virgin November 19811
29"Summer Nights"John Travolta and Olivia Newton-John RSO September 197811,640,672
30"Two Tribes"Frankie Goes to Hollywood ZTT May 198411,629,287
31"Gangsta's Paradise" Coolio featuring L.V. Tommy Boy October 199511,585,504
32"My Heart Will Go On" Celine Dion Epic February 199811,583,276
33" ...Baby One More Time" Britney Spears Jive February 199911,570,000
34"Wonderwall" Oasis Creation October 19952
35"Moves like Jagger" Maroon 5 featuring Christina Aguilera A&M/Octone August 20112
36"Careless Whisper" George Michael Epic July 19841
37"Can't Buy Me Love"The Beatles Parlophone March 19641
38"Perfect Day"Various artists Chrysalis November 199711,550,017
39"Karma Chameleon" Culture Club Virgin September 198311,528,498
40"Somebody That I Used to Know" Gotye featuring Kimbra Island January 20121
41"Y.M.C.A." Village People Mercury November 19781
42"Wake Me Up" Avicii Positiva/PRMD June 20131
43"Tears" Ken Dodd Columbia August 196511,523,690
44"I Gotta Feeling" The Black Eyed Peas Interscope September 200911,477,778
45"Get Lucky" Daft Punk featuring Pharrell Williams Columbia April 201311,471,356
46"Killing Me Softly" Fugees Columbia June 199611,457,641
47"The Power of Love" Jennifer Rush CBS May 198511,456,087
48"Come On Eileen" Dexys Midnight Runners Mercury Records June 19821
49"It Wasn't Me" Shaggy featuring RikRok MCA February 20011
50"Rock Around the Clock" Bill Haley & His Comets Brunswick December 195411,439,196

Best-selling songs based on combined sales (streaming-adjusted)

From 2014, streaming has counted towards sales (sometimes called "combined sales" or "chart sales") at the rate of 100 streams equal to one download or physical purchase, although the singles chart no longer uses this ratio. In September 2017, the OCC changed their definition of a 'million seller' to include streaming. [5] Below are the best-selling singles by combined sales of over 1.8 million, based on sales and streaming equivalent, as of the latest data available.

SingleArtistChart
peak [a] 		Released [a] SalesStreaming equivalentCombined sales
"Perfect" Ed Sheeran 12017——5,504,332 [10]
"Shape of You" Ed Sheeran 12017——5,260,000 [11]
"Something About the Way You Look Tonight" / "Candle in the Wind 1997" Elton John 119974,935,93615,4724,951,408
"Last Christmas" / "Everything She Wants" Wham! 119841,940,0002,350,1264,564,703 [12]
"Do They Know It's Christmas?" Band Aid 119843,802,066140,9933,943,060
"Someone Like You" Adele 120111,644,597351,7723,000,000 [13]
"Shake It Off" Taylor Swift 220141,000,000—3,000,000 [14]
"Bohemian Rhapsody" Queen 119752,540,604254,4302,795,034
"Uptown Funk" Mark Ronson featuring Bruno Mars 120141,647,3101,076,1602,723,470
"Happy" Pharrell Williams 120131,921,805707,8512,629,657
"Thinking Out Loud" Ed Sheeran 120141,219,1841,302,1192,521,302
"Hello" Adele 12015948,618906,4312,500,000 [13]
"Photograph" Ed Sheeran 152015——2,380,000 [11]
"One Dance" Drake featuring Wizkid & Kyla 12016553,9731,791,0072,344,981
"Rather Be" Clean Bandit featuring Jess Glynne 120141,283,122935,5752,218,697
"Blank Space" Taylor Swift 42014——2,200,000 [14]
"Sorry" Justin Bieber 12015724,1881,443,7192,167,907
"All of Me" John Legend 220141,259,708896,4182,156,126
"You're the One that I Want" John Travolta & Olivia Newton-John 119782,072,03582,8972,154,932
"Relax" Frankie Goes to Hollywood 119832,066,23082,0922,148,322
"Rolling in the Deep" Adele 22011——2,100,000 [13]
"Mull of Kintyre" / "Girls' School" Wings 119772,086,1831,0662,087,249
"Love Yourself" Justin Bieber 12015718,5491,340,6662,059,215
"Rivers of Babylon"/"Brown Girl in the Ring" Boney M. 119782,032,6566,1642,038,820
"Make You Feel My Love" Adele 42008——2,000,000 [13]
"Love Story" Taylor Swift 22009——2,000,000 [14]
"Wonderwall" Oasis 219951,502,270493,6711,995,940
"Mary's Boy Child – Oh My Lord" Boney M. 119781,885,27491,7251,976,999
"Wake Me Up!" Avicii 120131,483,346484,0351,967,381
"She Loves You" The Beatles 119631,922,27531,0991,953,374
"Take Me to Church" Hozier 22013934,4661,017,8511,952,317
"Blurred Lines" Robin Thicke featuring T.I. and Pharrell Williams120131,667,615284,0041,951,619
"(Everything I Do) I Do It for You" Bryan Adams 119911,848,15490,3821,938,536
"Love Is All Around" Wet Wet Wet 119941,898,79038,9511,937,741
"Believe" Cher 119981,826,573101,0201,927,593
"Cheerleader (Felix Jaehn Remix)" Omi 12014861,0861,057,4391,918,526
"I Just Called to Say I Love You" Stevie Wonder 119841,874,22538,3031,912,528
"Despacito (Remix)" Luis Fonsi featuring Daddy Yankee and Justin Bieber12017566,4251,334,1741,900,599
"Barbie Girl" Aqua 119971,844,31052,9361,897,247
"Eye of the Tiger" Survivor 119821,650,293223,0451,873,338
"Unchained Melody" /
"White Cliffs of Dover"		 Robson Green & Jerome Flynn 119951,867,7554,2141,871,969
"I Want to Hold Your Hand" The Beatles 119631,810,82947,8991,858,728
"What Do You Mean?" Justin Bieber 12015533,5811,320,2561,853,837
"Let Her Go" Passenger 220121,243,336589,0191,832,354
"Get Lucky" Daft Punk featuring Pharrell Williams120131,471,356349,9891,821,344

See also

Notes

  1. 1 2 3 4 5 The record labels, dates and chart peaks are those given by the OCC.
  2. ↑ The sales are those given by the OCC as of 19 September 2017, [5] unless stated.

    References

    1. ↑ "Rules for Chart Eligibility: Singles" (PDF). Official Charts Company. April 2013. p. 4. Retrieved 1 June 2015.
    2. ↑ British Phonographic Industry, BPI (4 May 2023). ""British single certifications – Mariah Carey – All I Want for Christmas Is You"". Award Tracker. Official Charts Company. p. 1. Retrieved 7 May 2023.
    3. ↑ Williams, Mark (19 February 2002). "Obituary: Percy Dickins". The Guardian . Archived from the original on 22 July 2010. Retrieved 6 August 2013.
    4. ↑ Smith, Alan. "50s & 60s UK Charts – The Truth!". davemcaleer.com. Archived from the original on 3 September 2011. Retrieved 6 August 2013.
    5. 1 2 3 4 5 Copsey, Rob (19 September 2017). "The UK's Official Chart 'millionaires' revealed". Official Charts Company . Retrieved 20 September 2017.
    6. ↑ "Mr Brightside: The Killers' hit becomes the biggest song never to top charts". 9 May 2024. Retrieved 29 June 2024.
    7. 1 2 Myers, Justin (14 February 2020). "The UK's biggest selling singles of all time". Official Charts Company . Retrieved 28 June 2021.
    8. ↑ Copsey, Rob (11 June 2015). "The Official Top 40 Biggest Selling Singles of the Millennium so far revealed". Official Charts Company . Retrieved 11 June 2015.
    9. 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 "The best-selling singles of all time on the Official UK Chart". Official Charts Company. 8 November 2023. Retrieved 9 November 2023.
    10. ↑ Jones, Alan (27 September 2024). "Charts analysis: Sabrina Carpenter at No.1 on singles chart for 17th time in 2024" . Music Week . Retrieved 5 October 2024.
    11. 1 2 Copsey, Rob (2 November 2021). "Ed Sheeran's Official Top 40 biggest songs". Official Charts . Retrieved 31 August 2025.
    12. ↑ Paine, Andre (20 December 2024). "Wham!'s Last Christmas makes history with consecutive festive No.1s". Music Week . Retrieved 20 August 2025.
    13. 1 2 3 4 Griffiths, George (14 October 2021). "Adele's Official Top 20 biggest songs revealed". Official Charts Company . Retrieved 31 August 2025.
    14. 1 2 3 "Taylor Swift's Official Top 40 biggest songs in the UK revealed". Official Charts Company. 23 April 2024. Retrieved 18 August 2025.
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